Welcome To The Neitherworld
by London1
Summary: Set a little while after the movie, perhaps a month or two. Kind of mixes in the cartoon.......Connecting the movie to the cartoon, only Lydia is 17 years old. FINISHED
1. Boo!

Welcome To The Neitherworld

London

Disclaimer: This is a fictional story based on the movie and the cartoon version of Beetlejuice. I'm going to try to stick closer to the movie though. All BJ things belong to Tim Burton or someone….we'll stick with Burton for now. The language may be a little discretional.

Chapter 1: Boo

Riding her bike home from school, Lydia Deetz found herself thinking about her recent mishap with Beetlejuice. Would she ever meet with him again? She pushed the thought away and rode a little faster to her house. The sky roared a little, urging Lydia to go even faster before it started to rain. A car whirred past her and it was then that the sky let out…it rained.

Lydia groaned and rode past the cemetery. She stopped and gazed into its depths. She knew the cemetery and the entire town by heart. Adam Maitland, one of the ghosts in her attic, kept an updated version of the entire city. Lydia gave a sigh and went back to riding home. Just as Lydia had known, Delia, Lydia's stepmom, was in a panic rush when she got home.

"Oh! Lydia, please wipe your feet!" Delia ordered. "Did you wipe your feet? Look at you, you're all wet! Go change right now, we wouldn't want the house to get all soggy."

Lydia tromped upstairs to her room. She couldn't stand Delia's constant ragging. She shut her door and fell back onto her bed. The rain had increased and it made a comforting noise. Lydia decided that Delia was right about one thing, getting into some different clothes would be good. She got up and looked in her closet. She pulled out a basic outfit that consisted of: a black tight shirt, a black vest, and a black a-line skirt. She put the clothes onto her bed and started taking her school clothes off.

"Whoa" a voice said from behind her. She spun around and saw nothing.

"Hello?" Lydia asked. "Who's there?"

No answer, no owner of the voice, no nothing. Lydia turned back around and undid her shirt. She placed her black shirt on. She looked behind her, not sure of the voice coming back. She put her skirt on, under her school skirt. She took the school skirt off and looked around the room. Still nothing.

"This isn't worth anything!" The voice yelled again. She was quick to turn around this time.

"Who's there?" Lydia asked. She spotted the mirror and saw a familiar face there.

"Hey babes" Beetlejuice said. In the mirror, he was lounging in the red tuxedo that Lydia remembered him wearing during their supposed 'wedding'.

"Go away. I don't want to talk to you" Lydia said. She turned around and put her vest on.

"But, I want to talk to you" Beetlejuice replied. Lydia opened the door, grabbed her camera, and left—allowing the door to slam shut. "Hey! We had a deal you slimy, no-good, mortal!"

Lydia was up the stairs to the attic faster then she had ever gone up them. She knocked on the door and entered without the Maitland's consent. She shut the door and sat down on their cloth-covered couch. Barbara and Adam (the Maitland's) gathered around her.

"Lydia?" Barbara asked. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Adam asked.

"It's Betel—you know, that guy" Lydia said trying not to say his name.

"Him!" Barbara gasped. She looked at Adam.

"When I left my room he was screaming something about a deal" Lydia replied. "You don't think he meant that marriage thing, do you?"

"Most likely he did" Adam replied. He adjusted his glasses. "I don't know how to help you with this."

"Would the book know?" Lydia asked. Barbara retrieved it and skimmed through it.

"Where did you see him?" Adam asked.

"In my mirror" Lydia replied. Adam pulled up a stool and sat down.

"Oh, here, look at this!" Barbara pointed. "It says that when ghosts are banished to the Neitherworld, they can only watch the living through reflective objects….like the mirror in Lydia's room….or, they can be emancipated (set free) by having their name called three times or marriage to one of the living."

"Oh no. You kept him from being set free" Adam replied. "He was a nuisance when he wasn't angry."

"What does it say in there about mad ghosts, Barbara?" Lydia asked peering over the book. Barbara flipped through the book and handed it to Adam.

"Can we get back to you?" Adam asked searching the book. Lydia nodded and stood up.

"Yeah, just try to find the answer soon ok?" Lydia replied. Adam was more into searching for the answer then saying good-bye to Lydia, but Barbara did it for him. "Thanks."

Delia was in the kitchen getting some type of vegi tray ready. Lydia came down and stared at the odd shaped tray. It was odd imagining the time the food had turned into hands while Delia sang "Day-o".

"What are you doing, Delia?" Lydia asked.

"Your father and I are going to a special dinner tonight and I'd appreciate it if the house doesn't burn down while we're gone" Delia replied. Lydia nodded and walked down to her basement. Well, actually it was more like her dark room. Lydia flipped her red lights on and started developing some of her newly shot film. Lydia ran the previously half done film through the chemicals and waited for it to develop.

"Hey Toots" Beetlejuice said. His reflection was in the chemicals.

"Go away, Be—" Lydia said stopping herself. "What do you want?"

"Well the last I remember, we were supposed to be married! But, hey, I get it. You were nervous. Probably your first time gettin' hitched, right?" Beetlejuice yelled. He put his hands up and slapped on a grin. "Here's the deal. You just say my name three times, I'm out, you're happy, and no one is bothered. What do you say?"

"No" Lydia replied. Beetlejuice's face turned from happy to sour.

"C'mon! What do you want from me!" Beetlejuice asked. "God! You'd think I'm starting to be reasonable!"

"Why do you want out so badly?" Lydia asked. Beetlejuice turned to her.

"Why? Why! You want to know why? I'll tell you why!" Beetlejuice yelled. "I can't do a damned fucking thing in here! That's why!"

"Well, Adam and Barbara told me that I could say your name three times and you'd be able to go" Lydia replied.

"Yep" Beetlejuice replied in agreement.

"But what happens if I say your name three more times?" Lydia asked him. "You'd you go back like last time?"

"Why would you even want to say my name three more times?" Beetlejuice asked.

"What would happen?" Lydia asked him. He made a face at her. She shook her head and took the now developed pictures out of the chemicals and placed them in a water bath. "What would happen?"

"Hmmm…let me think about it for a sec, Babes" Beetlejuice replied. His reflection had moved to a silver crab pot in the corner of the room. She watched him. "Well, I'm not sure. I think that I'D PROBABLY BE RETURNED BACK TO THIS HELL HOLE!"

"Why do you want out so bad?" Lydia asked starting to clean up her mess. A knock from upstairs led to Delia screaming to Lydia that she and Charles were leaving. When Lydia turned around, Beetlejuice wasn't on the crab pot. "Beetlejuice?"

"Uno" Beetlejuice counted. "Two more times, Babes."

"Leave me alone" Lydia replied. Beetlejuice showed himself again. This time he showed his whole body instead of his upper portion.

"C'mon, Lyds! Oh, oh I know! It's the suit right? Makes you feel a bit uncomfortable. No problem" Beetlejuice replied. In a flash he was changed into his usual striped suit. "How's this? Better?"

"Barbara" Lydia yelled.

"Barbara" Beetlejuice mocked. "We can strike a deal, Babes."

"Stop calling me that" Lydia replied. Barbara entered through the door and saw the two talking.

"Calling you what?" Beetlejuice asked.

"Babes" Lydia replied. He crossed his arms as Barbara approached.

"Beetl—" Barbara began.

"No!" Lydia squealed. "I already said it once."

"I could put a curse on you if I really wanted to" Beetlejuice threatened.

"Why don't you just go away?" Barbara asked.

"Why don't you? Look, I need to be free. If you don't say the words, I'll get someone else to say them. I don't need you" Beetlejuice replied with large arm movements. "You already said my name one full time!"

Barbara took Lydia upstairs leaving Beetlejuice alone in the basement. He disappeared after giving them a few gestures of the fingers. It was then that Beetlejuice got the brilliant idea of kidnapping.

Beetlejuice returned to his humble abode in the Neitherworld. His humble abode was mainly an apartment, like anyone else's…..except that it was crawling with insects and it was filthy. He sat on his couch and put his feet up on a skull table.

Beetlejuice flipped on the television for a little noise. Kidnapping one of the living could get him in a whole lot of trouble. The living weren't supposed to be brought to the Neitherworld.

"I have to be clever about this" Beetlejuice replied. "This would be a good time to actually follow that stupid book." He grabbed a passing insect and popped it into his mouth. "I can get her to set me free."

"Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, cinco, ceas…" The radio blared. It was playing "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)". Barbara and Adam danced while Lydia cleaned her camera. They were up in the attic. Beetlejuice appeared in the miniature town.

"I'm pretty fly for a white guy!" Beetlejuice yelled. They all stopped and looked at the miniature town. Beetlejuice sat posed on a tombstone. "Whoa, the two dead people and Lyds."

"Go away" Barbara said.

"Hey! I got something to tell you FREAKS!" Beetlejuice yelled at them. He clapped and the tv popped on. It had Beetlejuice standing with his striped suit on. He said "Have you ever gotten the feeling that you just aren't a normal human being? Seriously. You're not dead and you're still alive. Well I've got some news for ya! You'll be spending some time with me in the Neitherworlds! HA HA! See you there, Babes."

Lydia turned to Barbara and Adam, but was already starting to fade away. The look on her face was one of a frightened girl.


	2. Welcome to The Neitherworld

Chapter 2: Welcome to The Neitherworld

Lydia ended up sitting on Beetlejuice's couch. She looked around and stood up as a cockroach passed by. Beetlejuice watched her back up and almost ram into a spider web. She ran for the door but Beetlejuice blocked her.

"Hey there Babes" He said smiling. Lydia backed up and he followed her. It was similar to one of those nature shows where the wolf is about ready to kill its prey. A chair popped out of nowhere behind Lydia and she sat down with a gasp. "How about taking a seat. Ok, here's the thing. I'll make myself perfectly clear. You say my name three times and we'll both be home free. You don't say my name three times, then we both stay here. And, believe me, this place really sucks. Know what I'm saying?"

"Take me back" Lydia said. Beetlejuice narrowed his eyes and balled up his hands.

"You ain't going back, kid!" He screamed at her. "Not until you say my name, three times!"

"Fine then" Lydia replied. "At least I don't have to listen to Delia."

"Yeah, she's a real bitch isn't she?" Beetlejuice said suddenly sympathizing with her. "See there's nothing too bad about living here. I got an awesome place here, Babes."

"Yeah, a bug zoo" Lydia replied. Two beetles crawled on the arms of the chair. "Ew!"

After spotting a window, Lydia stood up and approached it. There was a red sun outside. A sharp wind blew through the street. The buildings were all oddly shaped, almost to the point of falling over.

"Well, babes, you're in the Neitherworld. Quite a view, huh?" Beetlejuice replied. Below, on the street, people passed by. People with the looks of dead cows and mutilated bunnies. Lydia wrinkled her nose. "Say it, Lyds."

"What? No! I don't want you out" Lydia replied. Beetlejuice let out a loud 'Argh!' and kicked his wall. Lydia gasped wide-eyed at his reaction. Beetlejuice took a deep breath and tried to smooth his ratted hair back.

"I'm ok….yeah….ok" Beetlejuice said trying to calm himself. "I need to go out. You can stay here or come with me….but I don't promise anything."

Lydia nodded in understanding and followed him out the door. Beetlejuice turned to her and pointed his finger to the camera. It disappeared and Lydia's mouth dropped open.

"My camera!" Lydia yelled. "What did you do with it?"

"If you're seen with that, we could both get stuck here for the next millenium Babes" Beetlejuice replied. "Hey, I've got an idea." Beetlejuice leaned against his house on one arm, trapping Lydia. "You kiss me, guiltless conscious, and I'll let you go."

Lydia's faced turned to one of pure repulsiveness. Beetlejuice just gave her a salacious smile. Lydia pushed past Beetlejuice in a huff. She crossed her arms and waited for Beetlejuice to show her around.

"You're loss Babes. I'm the ghost with the most, and you know it" Beetlejuice replied smugly. He walked past her.

Lydia followed Beetlejuice to a nearby grocery store. The store was obscurely shaped with a neon green sign, reading 'Komkat Grocery'. As they approached the sliding doors, two skeletons exited, followed by a half rotting corpse.

"We're going shopping?" Lydia asked.

"Hey" Beetlejuice riled on her. "I'm hungry and I know you ain't going to eat what I eat."

Lydia nodded and followed him inside. It reminded her of the mall from 'Day of The Dead'. There were various dead people roaming about as if they really had no clue as to why they were there. Beetlejuice headed down isle four, while Lydia remained gawking at the dead. She let out a loud gasp when two kids, who obviously died from a car crash, started touching her as if she wasn't real.

She quickly moved away from them and looked for Beetlejuice. She accidentally bumped into a man, whose head dropped onto the floor.

"Hey!" The head on the floor screamed. "Stupid kid!"

The body felt around for the head until it found it. Then it put it back on and turned to face Lydia.

"Uh, sorry" Lydia said watching the neck of the person in front of her.

"You should be more careful" The man said. He squinted his eyes at her and looked her over. "Are you really……dead?"

Lydia felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't you leave her alone" Beetlejuice said. The person in front of Lydia sneered and went on his way. "No one can find out where you're from. Now, come pick something out."

"Why not?" Lydia asked trying to follow him and not run into anyone.

"It's not something taken lightly to" Beetlejuice replied. "Grab what you can and let's bolt."

"Steal?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah" Beetlejuice said. "Everyone does it; it's just one of those, hush hush type of things."

Lydia rolled her eyes, grabbed what looked edible, and left behind Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice pulled a bag out of his pocket and dumped his things into it as they were walking. He thrust it into Lydia's arms.

"Don't say I never do nothing for ya" Beetlejuice said. Lydia dumped her things into the sack and carried it.

"Where are we going?" Lydia asked as they started heading down a narrow road away from Beetlejuice's house. Beetlejuice smiled.

"A bar" Beetlejuice replied.

"I'm only 17" Lydia said. Beetlejuice shrugged. "What do people call you?" Beetlejuice stopped walking and turned to her.

"What?" Beetlejuice asked. The question had come from nowhere.

"What do people here call you?" Lydia asked. Beetlejuice frowned a little.

"BJ" Beetlejuice replied. "Why?"

"Just curious" Lydia said. A team of dead football players passed by and stared at Lydia as they passed. Lydia stepped closer to Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice sneered at the jocks and placed his arm around Lydia's shoulders.

"Get yer own" Beetlejuice yelled at the passing jocks. He hurried her down the street towards a small, shoddy bar called the Hangman. Before they got to the front door, Beetlejuice looked Lydia over. "Ya can't go in their lookin' like that, babes."

"What?" Lydia asked. She immediately put her hands to her hips. "What's wrong with the way I look?"

Beetlejuice snapped his fingers and Lydia's clothes and make-up changed. Lydia looked down at herself and found herself in a tattered old dress that forced her to have major cleavage. She looked at her skin. It looked deathly grey and pale.

"What did you do!" Lydia shrieked. Beetlejuice pulled her to him by slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Look babes, if folks found out that you were living, we'd both be in deep shit. Know what I mean?" Beetlejuice said.

"No. What do you mean?" Lydia asked trying to hide the disgust she was feeling.

"You know, I don't even want to go there right now" Beetlejuice replied. "Let's go get a beer."

Beetlejuice dragged her into the bar and right over to a booth where a skeleton and a spider were sitting. The skeleton and the spider both looked unhappy to see Beetlejuice.

"Yo, Jacque, Ginger, this is my new ghoul, Lydia" Beetlejuice said pulling Lydia closer to him and planting a small kiss on her cheek. Lydia groaned and pushed away from him.

"I'm not your ghoul" Lydia protested. The skeleton, Jacque, was in a suit and beret. He tapped the table in an inpatient way.

"Be-atle-joose" Jacque said in a French accent. "Have you no class? Dis petite don' seem to like you."

"Oh please" Beetlejuice said with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you Lydia" Ginger said extending one of her black spidery legs. Lydia let out a small shriek when the black arachnid leg touched her hand. Ginger just laughed and retracted her leg. "Oh I get that all the time."

"It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of such a beauty, Lydia" Jacque said pulling her hand into his. "Enchante." He bent his head and laid a lipless kiss on the back of her hand. Lydia almost smiled.

"Get yer hands off her, Jacque" Beetlejuice growled. Jacque took his time in letting Lydia's hand go, but when he did he was glad to see the familiar sight of the waitress.

"What'll it be tonight?" The waitress asked. A butter knife was sticking out of her left eye socket, her hair was light purple, and her skin was ghastly blue.

"Gin and toxic" Jacque said. "With lime."

"Bloody….Mary" Ginger said with obvious undertones of wanting someone dead. "BLOODY MARY! BLOODY MARY!"

"Right, a gin and toxic and a bloody mary. And, for you two?" The waitress asked. Beetlejuice leaned back and put his arm around Lydia's shoulders.

"I'll have a beer and she'll have a Man-hate-an" Beetlejuice replied. The waitress looked Lydia up and down then walked away.

"Get your arm off of me" Lydia said when the waitress left. Beetlejuice held up his hands in silent protest, then turned to talk to Jacque and Ginger.

"So, BJ, I hear you couldn't scare a family properly" Jacque said in a chiding tone.

"Shut up, Jacque" Beetlejuice retorted. Ginger placed a leg on Beetlejuice's shoulders.

"It happens to the best of us" Ginger said.

"I scared them pretty damned good" Beetlejuice said. "There was just one that wouldn't scare."

"You're slipping, mon ami" Jacque said in a challenging tone. The waitress stopped by and dropped off their drinks, then quickly left.

"I ain't slippin'. Your slippin'" Beetlejuice said. "I heard that you don't even scare people anymore."

"I've changed, oui" Jacque said. Lydia placed her head on her hand and looked at the rest of the bar. There were a table of dead….models, or at least tall leggy girls, a table of skeletons, and even a table of creatures she couldn't quite place….there was even a tall girl with green skin and blonde hair storming right over to their table.

"BJ" Lydia said lifting her head off her hand. Beetlejuice turned.

"What? I'm…..talking?" Beetlejuice said until he noticed the blonde. "Oh fuck." He plastered on a phony smile and stood up. "Griselda!"

"Bastard!" The chick yelled. There was a loud cracking sound and Beetlejuice was lying across the table. "Who's this?" The blonde indicated Lydia. "Don't come around anymore. Ass."

Beetlejuice picked himself up and sat himself beside Lydia again.

"Real smooth" Lydia replied trying to brush off the spilled drink from her dress.

"Well" Beetlejuice said with a sniff. "I was going to ditch the bitch soon, now that I have you, babes."

Lydia rolled her eyes. She watched as Jacque clapped and his clothes were instantly dry. Ginger made a small, strange sound and was dry. Beetlejuice snapped and his suit was beer-free. Jacque and Ginger looked at her as if she didn't know the words to the most common of songs.

"Be-atle-joose, your ghoul is a little….strange" Jacque said while keeping his eye sockets on Lydia. Beetlejuice looked at Lydia and immediately put his arm around her.

"I've never seen her around before" Ginger said.

"Eh…she's….new" Beetlejuice said. He leaned forward a little. "Look, I think we're going to get outta here. Go back to my place. Know what I mean?" Beetlejuice pushed Lydia out of the booth and kept his arm around her. He squeezed Lydia's shoulder, trying to tell her not to say anything. "I'll catch you two later."

Jacque and Ginger just nodded and watched the two leave.

"You're going to get us into so much trouble!" Beetlejuice screamed as they walked back to his place. Lydia, still clutching the bag of almost edible food, stopped in her tracks. Beetlejuice marched on ahead screaming and cursing. Lydia, who had heard more then enough, just sat down on a bench.

Lydia felt the sweltering cloud of depression hit her like a brick. Here she was in a world that was completely alien to her. The only person she knew was a jerk. Her mind was telling her that she was going to die in this land of the dead and no one would care or even look in her direction when it happened.

Lydia didn't cry. She was too used to this feeling. She just stared blankly at the sky. She moved so she was lying on her back on the bench, looking up at the three strange moons.

"What're you doing?" A familiar voice asked. Beetlejuice's face suddenly appeared over hers. "You gonna stay there all night?"

"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?" Lydia asked dryly. Beetlejuice just raised an eyebrow as if she was crazy. He pulled her up with ease and started walking her towards his place.

"Look babes, I already told you" Beetlejuice said. "I need you to say my name three, that's three, times." He glanced at her cleavage. "Then, I'll do whatever. You want to be dead, I'll kill you. Consider it a favor from me."

"But?" Lydia asked.

"Look" Beetlejuice said opening his front door. "Death really isn't the best thing, Lyds." He shut the door after she stepped in. "I mean, usually people are sentenced to haunt certain places for a time, and then they have to go through all kinds of bureaucratic bullshit, believe me its hell. Complete hell at first. You might as well just wait, babes."

"Why do you care?" Lydia asked. She moved to sit on his couch. Beetlejuice just looked at her cleavage again and leered at her.

"Babe" Beetlejuice said moving next to her. "Anyone ever tell you that you're enchantingly gothic and would look perfect in a grim coffin?" He leaned in towards her, making her lean back. "What d'ya say I show you my bedroom?"

"Ew! No!" Lydia protested. She started to move to get up, but Beetlejuice blocked her way.

"I have something to show ya" Beetlejuice said in a slimy tone. Lydia shrieked when his face morphed into the grossest, goriest thing she had ever seen. His face changed back instantly and he seemed to like her reaction. "You're makin' me the happiest ghost, toots."

He pulled her in for a quick kiss before being pulled off of her. He looked around and found two people standing in his doorway. Lydia looked thankful for the two being there.

"What's the big fucking idea, Jacque!" Beetlejuice screamed.

"That was no regular scream" Jacque said crossing his arms.

"That was a…a…living scream" Ginger said whispering the last part. Lydia sat upright.

"He kidnapped me" Lydia said pointing to Beetlejuice.

"Mon Dieu!" Jacque said. "Be-atle-joose! 'Ave you gone mad!"


	3. Return to Normal

Chapter 3: Return to Normal

Lydia watched as Ginger covered Beetlejuice in webbing. Jacque grabbed onto the web bundle, which covered Beetlejuice from the mouth down, and dragged him into Beetlejuice's bedroom. Lydia followed and watched as they left him on the floor. Ginger was saying something about her webbing holding ghosts and Jacque was berating Beetlejuice for taking a living girl.

Beetlejuice looked like he could care less. Lydia made eye contact with him and watched the webbing easily expand and break away. Beetlejuice floated up, looking fairly pissed off. He took something from his pocket and threw it at Ginger, trapping her in a small cage. He looked over at Jacque and snapped and pointed at him. Jacque collapsed on the floor in a heap of bones.

"Beetlejuice!" Lydia said disbelievingly.

"I'm the ghost with the most, babe" Beetlejuice said. "One more time."

"Lydia, go through the –" Jacque said before a metal place covered his mouth. Lydia looked at the skeleton, then at Beetlejuice.

"Mirror!" Ginger shrieked. "The Mirror!"

"Aw! Shut! Up! Ginger!" Beetlejuice screamed. He threw something towards her and the sound coming from Ginger stopped. Lydia looked at Beetlejuice, then at the large mirror behind him. She ran towards the mirror, hoping to run past the ghost. Beetlejuice sighed and caught her as easily as he escaped his webbed cocoon. "Babes, Lyds, really. You think it's that simple?"

"I think you should just leave me alone" Lydia said. "I just want to go home."

"You ain't going nowhere, babes" Beetlejuice said with a smile. Lydia inwardly groaned to herself and glanced behind Beetlejuice at the mirror. She looked at the ghost before her that looked like he was about to go berserk on her. "At a loss for words, huh? How about I--!"

Lydia pulled him in for a kiss. The act threw the ghost off balance with his plans. Lydia inwardly cringed at what she was doing. She felt Beetlejuice put a hand at her waist and make a small gruff noise. Lydia moved him around, slowly and stretched her foot towards the mirror. She felt Beetlejuice's tongue find its way into her mouth and tried not to gag at the thought. Some inward thought told her that she was a necrophiliac now, or as close as she would ever dream of getting.

Lydia felt her foot touch the mirror and turn cold. She moved her foot back to her stance. She broke the kiss with Beetlejuice and looked up into his face, which was looking pretty pompous for a dead guy. She gave him a small smirk and stepped backwards, through the mirror.

Lydia landed on her butt on her floor in her room. She had fallen out of the large mirror that Delia had bought for her. She stood up and looked at her reflection. She had changed back into her regular clothes and her skin was back to its normal shade of pale. She watched as the reflection rippled, as if it was water, and changed into Beetlejuice.

"Hey!" Beetlejuice yelled. "Why'd you do that?"

"I wouldn't want to stay there with you if you were the last guy in the entire universe!" Lydia shrieked. She turned on her heel and raced out of the room. "Barbara!" Lydia raced upstairs. "Barbara! Adam!"

She burst into the attic to find her two ghostly friends in a loving embrace.

"Lydia?" Barbara said when she saw Lydia's face.

"I-I got away" Lydia said. "He…BJ…didn't want to let me go."

Adam pulled Lydia to the couch and tried to comfort her as she began to tear up. Lydia told them mostly everything, leaving out the part about the kiss. She told them about Jacque and Ginger, who the Maitlands agreed were decent ghosts for doing what they did.

"Lydia, honey, we're so glad that you're okay" Barbara said holding onto Lydia's hands.

"I need to figure out what he's capable of when he's still…unreleased" Lydia said. Adam looked at Barbara.

"Well, we first saw him on the television, then in the model" Adam said recalling their first experience with Beetlejuice.

"Yeah, that's right" Barbara said. "He shrunk us into the model. Then, I called for home three times. That got us back here."

"You mean that creep could appear in the house or in the model or in…in my room?" Lydia asked. Barbara and Adam both nodded 'yes'. "Dammit!"

"Language!" Barbara chided. Lydia got up and looked at the two.

"Just…don't say his name, okay?" Lydia asked. The ghosts both nodded.

Lydia, disgruntled, made her way to her room. She saw the mirror and frowned. She grabbed a wide scarf and draped it over the mirror. Feeling somewhat better and safe from ghostly eyes, she quickly changed into her pajamas.

'I need a shower' Lydia told herself. She grabbed her towel and headed for the bathroom.

The hot spray of the water and the calming scents of her shampoo and body wash made Lydia feel a hundred times better. She brushed her teeth and felt completely rid of Beetlejuice's touch. She smiled at herself through the foggy mirror and retreated into her bedroom.

Feeling that she wouldn't have any problems, she popped a movie into her tv and crawled into bed.

As the movie, 'Dawn of the Dead', went on Lydia started to feel the tugs of sleep pull at her. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep to the sounds of mall music and zombie groans from the movie.


	4. Twisted Dreams

Chapter 4: Twisted Dreams

"I don't use drugs, my dreams are frightening enough."

-MC Escher

Beetlejuice watched from a portion of the mirror that was uncovered as Lydia fell asleep. A wide grin spread across his face. Dream Land was easily accessible by the dead, especially him. He cackled before disappearing from the mirror.

Lydia's eyes slowly blinked open. She was at school. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there, but there she was…sitting in class. She looked around at everyone. Something was wrong. But what? She tried to place it. Chalk board, teacher, desk, her classmates, the pink clothes. Pink clothes?

Lydia looked down at herself and found that she too was in a pink school uniform. Lydia raised her hand as the bell rang. She was going to ask why the uniforms had changed, but suddenly her mind had a different question. What class was she supposed to go to?

Lydia picked up the notebook in front of her.

"I'm going to be in so much trouble" Lydia mumbled to herself. The classroom was empty. Lydia kicked herself for being the last one out of the room.

"Where are ya goin', babes?" A voice asked her. Lydia stopped. She knew that voice. She slowly turned around. Beetlejuice was sitting on the window sill in his striped suit. Lydia turned and tried to quickly leave, but she felt as if she were trying to move through a bowl of pudding. Lydia's eyes widened as Beetlejuice stepped in front of her.

"What do you want?" Lydia asked. She wasn't sure if she should be upset or scared or happy. Beetlejuice floated around her. "What?"

"For starters" Beetlejuice said with a snap of his fingers. Lydia looked down to find herself in her usual black clothing. "I hate pink, babes."

Lydia watched as people passed by in the hallway. It took a second, but finally her mind seemed to understand. "Is this…a dream?"

"Sure thing toots" Beetlejuice replied with a smile. "And, guess what, I love hanging out in dreams."

"Wouldn't it mean that you're just part of my dream?" Lydia asked. The room around them started to swirl into an indescribable mass of color.

"You wish" Beetlejuice hissed in her ear. Beetlejuice floated around to face her and gave her his best grin. "Now, let's get down to business, babes." Before Lydia knew it, Beetlejuice was standing beside her with his arm around her neck. "You owe me."

"You almost killed my father" Lydia objected, referring to the time Beetlejuice had turned into a snake and had dropped her father over the second floor railing. "I think we're pretty square."

"Is that so?" Beetlejuice replied. A grey path had formed before them and Beetlejuice started to walk Lydia along it. "The way I see it, is that I did you a really big favor, and I got nadda in return. Get me?" Beetlejuice glanced at the area around them. "What the hell kind of dream is this anyway?"

"One that hopefully does not involve you" Lydia retorted. Beetlejuice furrowed his brow. He was about to make a smart ass comment when a silvery object caught his attention. He let go of Lydia and took a step back, trying not to look at the ring that Lydia was wearing.

"Fine" Beetlejuice replied with a knowing smile. "You just try to live without me babes."

"Huh?" Lydia questioned. She felt as though she had just missed something important.

"I'll just wait for you to come running" Beetlejuice replied. "And, when you need me, maybe I won't show. You got it?"

Lydia watched as he cackled and faded away. Somehow, a breeze picked up and swirled Lydia's hair and clothes around as if to tell her that she was alone.

Beetlejuice returned to his room with an evil grin plastered to his face. Lydia was still wearing the ring he had given to her before Barbara had let the sandworm crash through the Deetz' house. Beetlejuice moved to his bookshelf, which was crammed full of old thick books and loose papers, and promptly pulled out a book. He flipped to a certain page, knowing these special books well, and cackled when he found the answer that he was looking for.

He could indeed use the ring to his advantage.

Lydia awoke with a start. She didn't sit up, but simply lifted her head from her pillow as if to make sure a certain ghost wasn't standing over her. She stretched her arm out and turned on her bedside lamp. Her clock said that it was close to three in the morning. Lydia grumbled and returned to lying on her back.

After a half hour of lying awake in bed, Lydia decided that a cup of tea would help her get back to sleep. She crawled out of bed and threw her robe on. She quietly moved down to the kitchen, skipping the ninth step on the stairs so it wouldn't squeak. She quickly headed for the kitchen and got a pot of water on the stove.

Lydia mindlessly flipped through one of Delia's art magazines until her water was boiling. She poured some of the water into a cup and added a tea bag. She breathed in the aroma of the tea and went back to her seat. Lydia fingered the ring that was on her finger, the ring that she had decided to keep after the big fiasco with Beetlejuice had happened. She snorted at the ring and quickly tried to finish up her tea.

The next day, Lydia did not see Beetlejuice, nor did she see him the next day or the day after that. The feeling of having someone watching her day in and day out was gone. Lydia was left with a paranoid, uneasy feeling. To make it worse, the Halloween dance at school was coming up, which Lydia couldn't seem to get away from. Everywhere she went, school, in town, even down the street, flyers were everywhere. It also didn't help that Claire Brewster, the popular blonde bimbette from school, couldn't seem to stop talking about it.

Lydia stopped in front of her locker and started on her combination.

"I, like, have no idea what to be this year!" Claire said loudly. "I suppose it all depends on who my date will be."

"Oh, Claire, you always come up with an awesome costume" One of the blonde cronies that surrounded Claire said.

"That's because I'm rich" Claire replied. Lydia inwardly groaned and pulled her locker open. "Lydia! You know Halloween isn't for another two weeks, right?"

Lydia exchanged her math book for her history book and tried ignoring Claire. She was always saying something about Lydia's appearance. Lydia fished around her locker for her pen. From the small locker mirror, a small distorted figure watched the whole incident.

"Hey!" Claire said hitting the lockers next to Lydia. "I'm talking to you, freak!"

Lydia's eyes narrowed angrily. Lydia raised her middle finger. "Sit and spin, Claire."

"Bitch!" Claire shrieked. Lydia rolled her eyes, grabbed her pen, which had fallen between her coat and her English book, and slammed her locker shut. Lydia stormed away, hoping that Claire wouldn't follow.

By some form of luck, Lydia found herself in her history class without being hassled by Claire and her cronies. Lydia found a seat in the back corner and opened her notebook and history book. She doodled in the margins of her notebook until she noticed that her ring was now a deep forest green color. A group of loud football players came in, making Lydia ignore her ring. Lydia waited for class to start so she could start her note-taking.

"Psst. Lydia" A boy named Jack Downey whispered to her during the lecture. "Lydia."

"What?" Lydia hissed at him. Jack smiled at her.

"I was wondering if you could help me study for our history test" Jack whispered.

'Why me?' Lydia thought. She nodded yes.

"I'll stop by your place tonight then" Jack whispered.

"Mr. Downey!" The teacher called out. "Miss Deetz! Is Revolutionary War boring you?"

"He just asked to borrow my eraser" Lydia said holding up her eraser. The teacher nodded and turned back to the board.

Lydia raced home from school. Jack Downey, the football team's full back, had spent the day talking to her and had set up a study date with her. Lydia stopped her bike when she came up to the cemetery. Would Beetlejuice be there tonight? He hadn't been around for a few days.

Lydia groaned and continued riding her bike home. She could only dream of what could go wrong with Jack coming over.


	5. Ambush

Chapter 5: Ambush

"Lydia!" Delia screeched. Lydia emerged from her room and peered over the railing of the stairs. "There's a young man here to see you!"

Lydia hurried downstairs and found Jack looking slightly traumatized by Delia's yelling.

"Hey Jack" Lydia said.

"Hey Lydia" Jack said with a smirk. He lifted his books. "I'm ready to study."

"My stuff is up in my room" Lydia said.

"Good" Jack replied as he caught Delia starting to approach them. "We can study there."

Lydia nodded and led Jack up to her room. If they could avoid Delia, studying would go much smoother.

An hour later, Lydia was sitting on her bed with her history book open on her lap and Jack was sitting in Lydia's computer chair. They had gone over the Revolutionary War twice and Jack was still missing stuff. Jack's interest in studying had also started to wane and he started looking at the strange stuff that cluttered Lydia's room.

"What is this?" Jack asked poking a squishy pink thing.

"One of those stress reliever things" Lydia replied. "My dad got it for me."

He wheeled himself over to a black binder that was labeled 'photos'. He started going through it.

"Okay, back to studying" Lydia said. She looked at the study sheet and read off an essay question. "On April 14, 1775, the British ordered Governor Gage to enforce the Coercive Act and suppress open rebellion. What were Governor Gage's actions and how did the rebels react?"

"They…crossed the Delaware with Washington" Jack said. Lydia sighed.

"Gage sent British troops to destroy the rebels' weapons. Paul Revere and William Dawes ride to Boston to warn the colonists. Are you even paying attention?" Lydia asked. Jack closed the binder and placed it on Lydia's dresser.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Jack asked.

"Nothing" Lydia said. "I thought you wanted help studying tonight."

"I need the help, but I was wondering if you wanted to get a pizza or something on Saturday. We could totally watch a movie or something" Jack replied.

"I don't know" Lydia said. "My parent's are going to New York this weekend."

"Perfect. We'll just order a pizza and watch a movie here" Jack said. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and rolled over to Lydia's bed. "I mean, we don't have to, but it would be cool." Lydia raised an eyebrow. Why did a football player want to hang out with someone like her? Don't football players usually date girls like Claire? Before she could register his closeness, she found that Jack had moved close and was pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Are you okay?"

"Why would you want to spend time with me?" Lydia blurted out. Jack smiled.

"You seem pretty cool" Jack replied. "And, you're smarter then most of the people at school."

Lydia felt a small smile grace her face. Jack's hand, which was lingering close to her face, snaked around to gently pull her closer to him. Lydia nearly gasped when she felt his lips on hers. As quickly as it started, it stopped.

"I think I've had enough studying for tonight" Jack said with a chuckle. "But, I'll see you tomorrow at school. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay" Lydia replied.

"Saturday night?" Jack asked as he pulled on his letterman jacket.

"Seven o'clock" Lydia said with a smile. Jack grabbed his books.

"Seven o'clock, Saturday" Jack said with a smile. He leaned in and kissed her again.

Saturday couldn't come quick enough for Lydia. Jack had blown off some of the other jocks to eat lunch with her and had taken an interest in her photography. Lydia had even managed to get through the rest of her school week without Claire or Beetlejuice interfering. Lydia took a deep breath and tried to stop being flustered from her week.

"Lydia?" Adam called out. Lydia turned to see Adam enter into the living room. "Lydia, now, I know you have a date tonight, but—"

"But nothing" Barbara said cutting him off. She came into the room with her 'Handbook for the Recently Deceased' in her hand. "We have a meeting to get to. We might not be around for a while."

"Okay" Lydia said with a shy smile.

"I want to know all the details when I get back" Barbara said. Lydia agreed and watched as the couple went up to the attic. Lydia glanced at her ring and groaned. It was still green and she couldn't seem to get it off of her finger. She had tried while in the shower, while doing dishes, and whenever she felt that no one was watching. She sighed and told herself that she had more important things to worry about.

A ring at the doorbell and Lydia was out of her chair at break neck speed. Lydia opened the door with a smile.

"Hello?" Lydia asked poking her head out the door. She was met with the night air and the sound of wind in the trees. Lydia frowned and closed the door. She peered out the eyehole and still saw nothing. No pranksters. Nothing. "Oh my god. I'm going mental."

Lydia left the door and went to grab a soda from the kitchen. She heard a knock at the front door and the hinges swinging open.

"I'm in the kitchen" Lydia called out before heading towards the living room. Lydia nearly dropped her soda when she saw most of the football team standing in her house. "What're you guys doing here?"

The large boys looked at each other, each wearing their lettermen's jacket, making them look strangely cultish. One guy, the quarterback, Kevin Laudry, stepped forward.

"We don't want you casting spells on Jack" Kevin said.

"Casting spells?" Lydia repeated disbelievingly. "Get out of my house."

"We heard that your folks ain't around tonight" One of the jocks said from the crowd.

"Yeah" A guy who was commonly called Brick said. "We figure that we should teach you what happens to people who cast spells in our town."

"I don't cast spells, assholes" Lydia said crossing her arms. "Where's Jack?"

"Jack is unavailable to you…forever" Kevin said. The jocks started to spread out around the room.

"Don't be such a prick" Lydia said. "Just leave."

Lydia watched as the group nearly formed a circle around her. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Look at her ring!" One of the guys yelled. "It just changed colors! She is a witch!"

Lydia looked down at her ring. It had indeed changed. It was now a bright amber color, as if it had caught fire. Lydia rubbed the ring with her thumb and barely looked up in time to see Brick in the process of tackling her to the ground. Breath left her lungs for a second and her head was now throbbing.

"Witch!" Brick hissed at her. The others were enclosing on the two. Brick was straddling Lydia's legs and had one hand on Lydia's upper chest. "You like magic? I'll show you my magic wand!"

Lydia grimaced and tried to squirm away, but the others wouldn't let her budge. Lydia caught a slight glimpse of her ring, which was starting to glow as if a light had been placed behind it.

"Beetlejuice!" Lydia shrieked. Brick sneered at her and slapped her across the face.

"She's trying to put a curse on you!" One of the jocks said.

"Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!" Lydia screamed, half crying. Brick held up his belt and pressed it close to Lydia's face.

"Don't think I won't hurt you" Brick said.

A lone figure appeared in the room expecting an audience of one. Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow when he saw the crowd of boys in the Deetz's living room.

"Get off of me!" Lydia shrieked from the group. Beetlejuice quietly made his way over to the boys and peered over their shoulders.

"What's up, boys?" Beetlejuice gruffly asked. The jocks gasped nearly at the same time and a few stepped back to give Beetlejuice some room.

"Who the fuck are you?" One of the boys asked.

"Who indeed" Beetlejuice said with a mischievous grin. "I'm the ghost with the most, pal." Beetlejuice pointed to Lydia. "You guys have met Lyds I guess."

Lydia mouthed the word 'help'. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"I got something to show you guys" Beetlejuice said with a grin. In an instant, his face and chest opened wide up to display his organs and several beetles crawling around in his chest cavity. Beetlejuice stepped over Lydia and leaned against the back of the couch just as the last of the jocks left screaming. "Little bastards."

"Thank you" Lydia said picking herself up. She looked at the blonde ghost before her and felt her bottom lip tremble slightly. She awkwardly hugged him before tears streamed from her eyes. "Thank you so much." Lydia could hear her voice cracking and sounding heavy with tears. She hated the way she sounded. "I thought….I thought…that they…were-were g-going to---"

"Shh" Beetlejuice cooed to her. He gave her back a few pats and pushed her off of him. "Look Babes, I hate being the hero most of the time, but I don't think you'll have any trouble."

"You looked pretty scary" Lydia said with a small laugh that sounded more like she coughed. Lydia wiped her eyes dry.

"Pretty scary? What're you talking about?" Beetlejuice asked. "They all ran out of here screaming."

Lydia just smiled and moved to sit on the couch. Beetlejuice moved over the back of the couch and perched against the arm of the couch so he could watch the tv and Lydia.

"Want something to drink?" Lydia asked. She had pulled herself into a tight ball and was trying to pull a blanket around her.

"Pass" Beetlejuice replied. As he watched Lydia fiddle around with the remote and stare distantly at the television screen, Beetlejuice could only ask himself one question 'Why am I caring about some living chick?'

"So…" Beetlejuice said trying to be suave. "Does this hero get a kiss?"

"Beetlejuice" Lydia said. "I wouldn't kiss you if you were the last person on earth."

"Hey Hey Hey!" Beetlejuice yelled. "Enough with the 'B' word!"

"Sorry" Lydia said as if it didn't really matter. She watched the television talk about some inventive new product that helped with back pain before speaking again. "You know you really shouldn't be here. I should just put you back where you came from."

"You won't dare, babes" Beetlejuice said leaning towards her a tiny bit.

"What makes you so sure?" Lydia fought back.

"I overheard that your folks are gone" Beetlejuice said while picking at the couch. He paused and leaned in close to her. "And, you wouldn't want those guys to come back here, would you?"

Lydia stared Beetlejuice eye to eye and swore she saw something that resembled depth to the creature in front of her.

"No" Lydia whispered.

"Great" Beetlejuice said softly before sitting upright again. "So, what're we doing tonight?"


	6. A Simple Leather Book

Chapter 6: A Simple Leather Book

Lydia picked up the television remote and flipped through the channels in a bored manner. She usually kept herself busy, but she usually didn't have someone else to deal with. She glanced at the ghost who was giving her strange looks, almost like he was going to eat her like some horrific monster or drag her off to do something that was probably equivalent to looting.

"Stop looking at me like that" Lydia quipped. She turned off the television and stood up. She stretched and kept an eye on Beetlejuice. "So what am I suppose to call you?"

"BJ" Beetlejuice replied with his eyes glued to her.

"Oh yeah" Lydia replied. "I remember you saying that."

"So what does a dark and dreary girl, such as your self, do?" Beetlejuice asked. Lydia shrugged.

"Take photos…draw…read…" Lydia said in her usual tone that mingled near depression.

"Bo-ring!" Beetlejuice sang. He stood up and looked around the room, stopping to poke a finger at one of Delia's sculptures. "Sounds like you need to juice things up, babes."

"I don't know" Lydia said. "What about--?"

"Forget it, babes" Beetlejuice replied. He gave her his biggest smile and managed to look devious. "Water under the bridge…just like the Maitlands."

Lydia rolled her eyes.

"I think I'll just go take a bath" Lydia said heading towards the stairs. She stopped as she bumped into Beetlejuice, who was blocking the stairs.

"A bath? You'd take a bath before hanging out with me!" Beetlejuice asked. Lydia's eyes went from wide to narrow. "Wait. Can I watch you take this bath?" Lydia pushed past him. "What! Did I say something?"

"Can't you go bug someone else?" Lydia whined as she climbed the stairs. Beetlejuice floated alongside of her on his back.

"I think you like my bugging you, babes" Beetlejuice replied. Lydia marched into her room, slamming the door. Beetlejuice just followed, walking right through the wooden door.

"Oh god" Lydia groaned.

"Hey, nice room" Beetlejuice said checking out her room. He perused a shelf of books. "Let me know if you want a roommate." Lydia fell upon her bed and stared at the ceiling. "Hey, nice mirror!"

"It was my mothers" Lydia said without looking towards him. Beetlejuice posed in front of the very tall mirror. He then inspected it as if he was looking for something.

"I think I have an idea, babes" Beetlejuice said. Lydia sat up and waited for his idea. Beetlejuice simply pointed at her bed. Lydia looked to her side and saw a book. It was a simple, leather bound book with no title.

"What is this?" Lydia asked. She picked it up and flipped through it.

"I think you're looking for…" Beetlejuice said pointing at the book again. "That page!" With a small zap of energy from his finger the book turned its pages by itself until it stopped at a particular page entitled 'World Beyond Enchantment'. "Just read it out loud, babes."

"This will take me to the Neitherworld" Lydia said after reading the passage.

"Yeah" Beetlejuice said. "What do you think? Sound like fun?"

"I don't know" Lydia said thinking over the situation. The book she held had a return passage that she could say at anytime if she needed to return. "How do I know this return spell will work?"

"You'll just have to trust the book" Beetlejuice said with a grin. "This mirror'll work out nicely for that spell."

"This is ridiculous" Lydia said standing up with the book in her hand. Beetlejuice brushed off invisible dust from the mirror frame and acted as if he was adjusting the mirror.

"This'll link up with my mirror at the roadhouse" Beetlejuice replied. He was obviously in his own world. "We're not supposed to have our own mirrors. But, I've never been one to stick to many rules."

"I want to be back here before midnight" Lydia said taking one last glance at the book before setting it down. Beetlejuice looked at her as if he had just won their personal battle.

"Sure" Beetlejuice replied. Lydia nodded and took a deep breath.

"Though I know I should be wary" Lydia said. Beetlejuice grinned like a madman. "Still I summon something scary." Beetlejuice adjusted his striped suit jacket. "Ghostly hauntings I turn loose…" The mirror started to glow with a faint blue light. "Beetlejuice…" A wind came from the mirror. "Beetlejuice…" Lydia closed her eyes as the strong wind hit her. "Beetlejuice!"

"It's showtime!" Beetlejuice cackled. Lydia gradually opened her eyes and found her self wearing a red spider web print poncho. Before she had time to question it, she was yanked towards the mirror. "Don't tell me you're chicken, babes. The adventure is just about to begin!"

Fin

A/N: I know this was short and kind of a cheap way to end things. If you want to write a second part to it, go right ahead. In the mean time, here is a shameless plug to get you all to go to my website:

The Obituaries…A Beetlejuice Archive http/ 


End file.
